Internews praised in Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery report...
Emergency Radio project for Aceh Disaster Relief Internews contirbuted to the information supply and creation of teh dialogue between communities.
Improving Access to Radio networks are typically more durable in emergencies than other media such as television and newspapers. As a result, radio tends to become a key medium even if it was not popular before the disaster. In Aceh, initial efforts concentrated on getting basic facilities up and running and reliable information on air. The Internews work in the region had many strengths:
Peuneugah Aceh. Distributing Wind-up Radios Internews carried out a needs assessment prior to distribution to ensure that the radios went to those most in need, using a set of prioritization criteria including access to other forms of media, living conditions, and so on. The radios were handed directly to beneficiaries rather than going through camp coordinators.
Internews was one of the first organisations to attempt to get accurate information about the relief effort to affected populations using the radio network, which was badly damaged in the disaster. Entire stations were wiped out, others were in inaccessible areas, and many lost staff. The first step was to find a way of producing audio material, given that many stations could not generate their own material, and then getting it out to local stations for broadcast. To solve the first problem, Internews built an emergency studio and hired a team of Acehnese journalists to produce a daily two-hour emergency radio programme called Peuneugah Aceh.
Read full ’’The Right to Know’’ report here